The Shabbat Table – Brisket 101!

Good Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom, and Happy Labour Day! Summer is nearly over, the kids are now back in school, and for their parents, the main course is Brisket 101!

It seems that everyone I speak to is in High Holiday menu planning mode. If you’re looking for the best brisket recipe to make for friends and family for Rosh Hashanah, here’s a selection of tried-and true recipes. Enjoy the upcoming Labour Day weekend before the real ‘Labour of Love’ begins – cooking for yontif!

Jewish cooking and lifestyle expert, Jamie Geller, the founder of www.jamiegeller.com, is also known as the brisket whisperer. Having cooked hundreds of briskets over the last decade or so, Jamie has figured out all the tips, tricks and abracadabra to make your brisket the one your friends and family look forward to, and will be raving about for years to come.

In her book, Brisket 101: 30 of the Best Brisket, Sides, Slaws and Leftover Recipes, Jamie Geller shares recipes, cooking tips and more, including the best way to prepare brisket and the preferred way to flavour it. Her Overnight Brisket is also known as “wake up to the smell of dinner!”

Sweet wishes for a happy, healthy and delicious New Year—Shana Tova u’metukah! Enjoy…

JAMIE GELLER’S OVERNIGHT BRISKET

Adapted from Brisket 101 by Jamie Geller

Yields 10 servings

Jamie shares, “It’s 8 am and dinner is ready! Oh, poor you, you worked so hard! NAH . . . you slept like a baby knowing that dinner was cooking itself while you slumbered.

Low oven temp and a long slow cook session ensures that this brisket is tender and not dried out. Be sure to use a whole brisket with fat on it, or a second-cut brisket (also known as the deckel). This will guarantee a moist, juicy, and savory end result. A first cut brisket will just be stringy.

3 large onions, thinly sliced

3 whole heads of garlic, sliced in half to reveal the cloves

1 whole brisket (fat on) or 2 second cut briskets

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

1 cup dry red wine

3 cups beef or chicken broth

1 cup crushed tomatoes (optional)

Preheat oven to 225°F.

Layer sliced onions and garlic in a large roasting pan or Dutch oven. Season brisket with salt and pepper.

Place brisket on top of onions and garlic. Pour red wine, broth, and tomatoes, if using, into pan. Cover food directly with a layer of parchment (foil will leech onto your food) and then seal tightly with foil.

Roast at 225°F for 10 hours.

Gently transfer brisket to a cutting board to cool before slicing. While brisket is cooling, strain onions and garlic from pan juices, being sure to press all juices out. Skim fat off of pan juices and reduce pan juices stove top until it coats the back of a spoon.

Slice brisket across the grain and transfer back to braising pan. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for 1 month (freeze reduced braising liquid separately).

Reheat brisket, covered in a low oven at 250°F, until hot. Serve with reduced pan juices.

GARLIC HONEY SLOW COOKER BRISKET

Adapted from Brisket 101 by Jamie Geller

Yields 8 servings

Jamie Geller writes: “This holiday favorite brisket is perfect for Rosh Hashanah with its sweet honey marinade. Of course, this recipe can easily be cooked (any time of year) in the oven but using a slow cooker includes the obvious “set it and forget it” benefits, as well ensuring your big brisket doesn’t commandeer all that valuable oven real estate—especially helpful when whipping up BIG festive holiday meals.

You can of course strain and even reduce the sauce before serving, if desired, but note that it’s plenty pungent and flavorful as is and serving it with the onions lends a rich body and creamy texture to the final dish (it’s how Hubby and I enjoy the sauce). You really can’t go wrong either way.”

Season brisket with salt and pepper and place in a sealable bag. Add marinade, seal, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours, flipping at least once halfway through.

Allow brisket to come to room temperature for 1 hour.

Spray insert of slow cooker with cooking spray.

Heat a sauté pan, large enough to hold brisket, over medium heat. Lightly coat bottom of pan with oil. Add onions (in batches if necessary), season with salt and pepper, and sauté until just golden, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker insert.

Add more oil to pan as needed to lightly coat. Remove brisket from marinade (reserve marinade), pat dry, and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Sear brisket, in hot oil, until nicely browned and caramelized, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to slow cooker insert with pan drippings, scraping up all the browned bits for bottom of pan.

Pour remaining marinade from plastic bag over brisket and onions, cover, and cook on low for 8 hours or until a fork can be inserted into and removed from center of brisket with no resistance.

Carefully remove brisket to cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if you will be serving immediately.

Bring braising liquid to a gentle simmer in a saucepan to keep warm, Reduce and skim fat as desired. Adjust seasoning once you have reached desired consistency.

Slice brisket against the grain and arrange on platter. Drizzle with sauce and serve any extra sauce in a gravy boat on the side.

Crock Pot Cooking Tip: The general rule of thumb for slow cooker brisket is two hours per pound, on low. That is assuming your slow cooker does not rise above 210°F. If you know your slow cooker runs on the hot side, then check your brisket 2 hours shy of the expected cooking time. Generally, you get penalized for checking by having to add an extra 20 minutes to the total cooked time (for each lift-of-the-lid/peak-into-your-pot episode), but this is less important if you know your slow cooker runs on the hot side.

My friend, Sheldon Glass of Thornhill, who is an excellent cook, always has a crowd gathered around his table for Rosh Hashanah. Shelly loves my brisket recipe from MicroWays, but he modified it, making it in the oven instead. It’s a winner!

2–3 medium onions, chopped

5 lbs beef brisket (Shelly likes to use a double brisket so it isn’t dry)

2 tsp salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

2–3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 500ºF. Place onions in the bottom of a large rectangular disposable foil pan that has been coated with cooking spray.

Rub brisket with seasonings (salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic). Place fat-side down in pan, on top of onions.

Combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, and wine vinegar in a bowl and mix well. Pour over and around brisket. Cover pan tightly with foil.

Norene Gilletz is the leading author of kosher cookbooks in Canada. She is a food writer, food manufacturer, consultant, spokesperson, cooking instructor, lecturer, cookbook editor and now a podcaster. Norene lives in Toronto and her motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste good!” For more information, visit her website at gourmania.com..